1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositional analysis of a fluid sample downhole. More particularly, the present invention relates to the elemental analysis of samples downhole such that they may be analyzed for their constituent components via laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy (SIBS) or some similar technique of plasma generation and optical emission analysis.
2. Summary of Related Art
There are many situations where it is necessary or desirable to obtain substantially instantaneous and/or immediate major and trace constituent analysis of a sample material. Sample materials may include geological samples, soil samples, powder metallurgy, ceramics, food, pharmaceuticals, and many other materials. There are many reasons why it would be desirable to test these materials for their composition of components. Hydrocarbon production is costly and knowing that production of a particular hydrocarbon bearing formation is not feasible due to content of undesirable elements such as sulfur may deem a formation infeasible. Compartmentalization is also a problem encounter during hydrocarbon production and the existence of such compartmentalization is valuable knowledge affecting production decisions involving millions of dollars in production expense.
There is currently no known method and apparatus for performing elemental analysis downhole. It would be useful to perform elemental analysis downhole on formation fluid to determine the characteristics of a formation fluid sample and the formation from which the fluid originated.